Ugo Gattoni on the Paris 2024 posters: “I was very honored”
Roncin had the ideal candidate in mind when he came to creating the posters: Ugo Gattoni, an illustrator whose impressive resume includes working on a project titled “Bicycle” for the Olympic Games London 2012, as well as scarf designs for the famous fashion brand Hermès . The artist is known for taking inspiration from surrealism and mythology and he specializes in large, colorful, detailed pieces.
“The first time Joachim contacted me was via the internet in June 2023, to ask me to create the official posters,” said Gattoni, sitting in an armchair in his studio. He is looking over the huge poster he created, with the shining eyes of someone who speaks with passion about his job.
The project may have been challenging and intense, but it was also very rewarding for the artist. “I was very flattered, honored!” he said about being asked to work on the project.
The project began with a first meeting at the Paris 2024 offices in Saint-Denis in June 2023. He received a clear brief and started right away. Even on his way back home, an idea started to formulate in his mind. And when he arrived at his house, he drew his first sketch.
“I immediately had an idea. I came home here to the studio and I already had the stadium in mind on my journey back. I wanted to make a Paris stadium. I had even already made a first sketch,” he explained, showing Olympics.com the files containing the sketches on his computer. Those initial sketches would become the drafts of the future posters for Paris 2024.
“I quickly added shadows to make it more meaningful and I pitched the idea to Joachim, who approved it.”
Four months and 2,000 hours of intense work followed. Once the project was approved the artist explained he “went into detail”.
“I added buildings, changed the background, put in the shadow. I added the Tahiti wave and included Marseille,” he recalled, pointing to each element with precision.